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June 27, 2003

DoNotCall.gov

As you might expect, the new US Federal Trade Commission site (see it here) for creating a list of people who don't want to be called by telemarketers is overwhelmed by the thundering herds trying to get on the list. Telemarketers are then supposed to check the list before they call and if they find your number, they are prohibited from calling you.

Of course, no federal law would be complete without loopholes:

  1. The list is for home phone numbers only, not businesses. It's okay to spam you at work.

  2. The registration lasts for five years, after that you have to reregister. It's assumed you want to get back on the list so they give you the opportunity for that to happen every five years.

  3. If, for whatever reason, you temporarily disconnect your phone service, then reconnect, you must reregister. It's assumed that you want to receive spam so they want to make it as easy as possible for that to happen.

  4. The prohibition against calls does not include "political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, the business of insurance (to the extent that it is regulated by state law), or companies with which you have an existing business relationship." It's assumed that you want to hear from these organizations. Even if you don't, they don't care because they have a strong lobby in Congress. The way these things work, expect more and more organizations to be added to the list as they pay-off urge Congress to remove this onerous intrusion on business rights (as usual, no one cares about your rights - ed.).

For more information, check out the FTC here. This being a government agency, some of the links on their page do not work (like their employees - ed.)

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

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